gluten free – Page 2 – Snapshots & My Thoughts by Ailee Petrovic

Food May 23, 2014

5 Ingredient Raw Vegan Brownies

I am not a baker. But seriously, every vegan dessert I try fails (except these beet muffins – yum!). So when I came across a recipe for a simple, raw vegan brownie bite recipe, I jumped at it. I made some slight adaptations to the version I found online, and both Sasha and I love the result! These have five ingredients – raw cashews, organic honey, pitted/chopped dates, coconut oil, and unsweetened cocoa powder. They take five minutes to prepare (minus recommended refrigeration time) – and they are healthy-ish (no refined sugars!). Perfect tiny snack to fill your sweet tooth cravings!

Ingredients: 1 cup of plain cashews, 1 cup of pitted or chopped dates, 1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder, 1.5 tablespoons of coconut oil, 2 teaspoons of honey

Step 1: Add 1 cup of raw, unsalted cashews to your blender and pulse until finely chopped

Step 2: Add pitted or chopped dates to cashew powder and pulse until completely mixed (should get kind of solid)

Step 3: Add 1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder

Step 4: Add 1.5 tablespoons of coconut oil and 2 teaspoons of honey to the blended mixture – may have to stir with spoon vs. blend (depending on how strong your blender is!)

Step 5: Lay down stick-free parchment paper or aluminum foil and make into small brownie bites

Optional (but I recommend) Step 6: Add to fridge for an hour so the coconut oil hardens – then enjoy!

If you try them, let me know how they turn out!

Décor February 4, 2014

Valentine’s Crafting + Baking

Last weekend, I headed over to Christie of KiKiMac‘s gorgeous house with Danielle of Goat and Spoon, and we had a perfect “Galentine’s Crafternoon.” She had posted some Valentine’s craft ideas here and here. As you’ll see in Christie’s post, we ended up creating these pretty hearts. Please soak in all of her gorgeous touches – like the place settings, menus, and delicious vegan, gluten free food!

Of course, with this festive holiday approaching us quickly, there are lots of DIY and decor inspirations posted across the web. Oh So Beautiful Paper’s Valentine Crafting Party ideas include some of my favorite! I adore these printables from Oh So Pretty x Sugar & Cloth.

If you’re looking to have or host a Valentine’s girl’s brunch, be inspired here. This Glitter Guide get-together is seriously perfect. I love the bubbly bar and the glitter LOVE letters.

Another gorgeous Glitter Guide crafty party is featured here. Every single detail (and craft) is perfect. Every one.

I also love this cupid’s arrow cake idea! Sasha and I would never finish that big of a cake, but I think a scaled down version would be perfect. I could even use our new favorite vegan chocolate beet muffin recipe for the cakes!

Another fun vegan Valentine’s Day recipe are these chocolate cake balls. I love finding vegan and gluten free recipes – perfect for a dinner with me and my brother-in-law, Carl, who has Celiac disease.

Food January 29, 2014

Vegan Chocolate Beet Muffins

I think that everyone needs their signature baked good. Unfortunately for me, I’ve never had one, and as a health-focused vegan, it has been hard to find recipes that fit the bill for nutrition while tasting delicious. That is, until I came across Minimalist Baker. This blog is my everything! I found two chocolate beet muffin/cupcake recipes and have fallen in love (as has Sasha, my toughest vegan critic!). I slightly adapted this one – replacing the all purpose flour with Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free flour, using Stevia vs. sugar, canned beets, and adding Attune bar chocolate crumbles. Sasha gave them two big thumbs up. I highly recommend you give this recipe a try! If you do, please let me know what you think.

Ingredients

3/4 can of beets (pureed)
1 cup unsweetened soy milk
1 tsp white or apple cider vinegar
 3/4 cup baking Stevia (or coconut sugar)
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup + 1 heaping Tbsp gluten-free flour (or regular all-purpose if you don’t want them GF)
scant 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
3 vegan Attune bars (found at Central Market or Whole Foods next to probiotic yogurts)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°F
Open can of beets and puree them until they are in liquid form. Measure out 1/2 cup and set aside.
Line a muffin pan with paper liners.
Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the Stevia, coconut oil, vanilla extract, and 1/2 cup beets and beat until foamy.
Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt to a sifter and slowly sift it into the wet ingredients while mixing with a hand-held or standing mixer. Beat until no large lumps remain.
Put vegan Attune bars (amazing chocolate filled with antioxidants!) into Ziplock bag and break into small pieces with a wooden spoon. Pour small chocolate crumbles into the mix.
Pour batter into liners, filling 3/4 of the way full. Bake 22 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely. Do not try and unwrap them or they’ll stick to the wrapper.
Once cooled, store in an airtight container to keep fresh. Optional: Dust with cocoa powder.

Recipe adapted from The Minimalist Baker (obsessed with her recipes!), and pictures are from here and here. If you try them, please let me know what you think!

Houston September 10, 2013

I Love Roost

This beautiful, bright wall welcomes you to the intimate Montrose restaurant, Roost. I went two weeks ago to meet one of my good friends, Joy, after having it high on my places to eat forever, and I was not disappointed at all (in fact, we headed back on Saturday for Bryan’s birthday meal!). Joy and I arrived in time for Happy Hour drinks, so got some champagne for an incredible price. I ordered the Brussels Sprout dish (of course), and Joy got the crab cakes. When we went this weekend, everyone raved about how good these two dishes were. While dining with Joy, the Executive Chef, Kevin Naderi, came over to say hello – I hadn’t realized that him and Joy knew each other before, but he was so friendly. The food was seriously phenomenal – I never wanted my dish to end. The place was very crowded when we left around 8:30, and I cannot wait to head back. Roost definitely earned a spot on my Best of Houston list.

Featured image and Kevin Naderi photo via Houston Chronicle // Roost pictures via website